This week, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement released its Record of Decision on the repurposing of inert decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers. In 2020, the Wyoming Legislature adopted HB0129, setting standards governing the use of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers to backfill surface coal mining sites.
Following this legislative directive, the DEQ’s Land Quality Division partnered with the Solid & Hazardous Waste Division to ensure state standards would be met while facilitating proper disposal of decommissioned turbine blades and towers.
The approach saves limited landfill space and benefits both the existing coal industry and growing alternative energy sector. For more information on this effort, see here.
